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I know you remembered my post when trying to solve the next board puzzle in Witness and asked yourself 'Am I a bit?'. The motion sickness added to it. Then you remembered that you paid 40$ for this indie puzzle game when you could have bought a sudoku magazine for 0.50$ instead and your mood dropped even more. As for myself I played it for 2 hours and got bored. Thankfully it was gifted to me by my cousin on my secondary steam account, if you can believe that.

I know you remembered my post when trying to solve the next board puzzle in Witness and asked yourself 'Am I a bit?'.

Thanks. It really means something, coming from you.

If I had the money to spare, I absolutely would buy the game. And anyone who likes well done puzzles set in a beautiful environment (and taking advantage of that environment in many many ways) should consider it. There's so much to discover and each discovery is unique in some way, whether it's a clever visual reference in the world or a new hidden place or a piece of knowledge that helps you further in the game or opens up a new way of looking at things. It's easy to look at it superficially and say that it's just line puzzles, but there's so much more going on in the game. I've never seen anything like it. Drawing lines is just the input method. The actual puzzles are so much more than that.

Wake me when they've got some T-Rex in there. Wait is this the correct plural? Okay, T-Rae. Now that sounds sophisticated. Not anymore though when I chop them into little pieces! What? Okay, it's just those line puzzles. Nice view though. Well, wake me up when.

I gave it a bit more time and found a few of the tutorial boards that I needed tucked away behind a bunch of exploration. Reached another section that started with tutorials, leading up to a larger board that is logically impossible based on what I'd just learnt, so figured that the actual answer is hidden away somewhere else on the island. At just under six hours I'm burnt out. I've just seen the Super Bunnyhop review, and it seems as if he had a similar experience to me:

Yeah, I can see where he's coming from, but for me, the reasons that he lays out for not liking the game are the reasons for liking it. I actually like that there is no hand-holding and I like figuring stuff out on my own. It's very satisfying to have things "click".

Sounds like if you like puzzle games because you like puzzles, then The Witness is your game, but if you see puzzles just as obstacles between the game's content or story or whatever, then you're probably going to be disappointed a lot.

Yeah, this game... It just clicks with me. I'm not going to say I'm particularly good at puzzles, as I've spent something like 15+ hours on it for sure and only solved 227 puzzles, yet I hear that most people already beat the game around this point, but the process is just so enjoyable. A beautiful world filled with puzzles to solve just for the sake of solving puzzles and figuring things out.There's no violence, no hostility, no cinematic cutscenes or hyper realistic graphics - it's just a game.

In many ways this game is the direct opposite of a game like Mirror's Edge but I love both of them so much.

The game has so much just in way of discovery. When I figured out the other day what the black obelisks are for, it was a bit like that moment in Matrix when Neo sees the world is made out of lines of code. Surprisingly, I haven't really gotten stuck anywhere (except the town puzzles -- those are pure evil). When something's too tough, I just move on and sooner or later there's an easier puzzle that makes it beatable and teaches the rules and techniques for it. Or sometimes I try to solve something for half an hour, walk away for a couple of minutes, and then solve it immediately.

There's so much mystery in the environment as well. For example, there's a lake that keeps changing as you progress. I haven't figured it out fully yet, but I think that the lanterns correspond to the activated beams and the water lilies correspond to the audio logs that you've found.

The game has so much just in way of discovery. When I figured out the other day what the black obelisks are for, it was a bit like that moment in Matrix when Neo sees the world is made out of lines of code. Surprisingly, I haven't really gotten stuck anywhere (except the town puzzles -- those are pure evil). When something's too tough, I just move on and sooner or later there's an easier puzzle that makes it beatable and teaches the rules and techniques for it. Or sometimes I try to solve something for half an hour, walk away for a couple of minutes, and then solve it immediately.

How cool. I still haven't figured out the meaning of the stacked car tires made from carbon, but I hope I manage to do so at some point (and not get spoilered beforehand).
I also love wandering around, bumping against some hard puzzle, then coming back later to destroy it in seconds. I remember struggling at some puzzle for about 30 minutes or more, giving up, then after another long section of puzzles I came back to it and solved it within 30 seconds.

So many cool areas. So far the desert and the shipwreck are probably the most mysterious sections I have wandered into, though the mountain also has mystery in it that I have not yet gained access to. After I (hopefully) beat this game I think I'll take some enjoyment in revisiting all these areas in my mind (and in game) and rank them in various forms of awesomeness (beauty, puzzles, creativity and such), though that may prove to be impossible. Plus, ranking is kind of stupid anyway, but it serves well as an excuse to analyze the game.

So far I've activated 4 lasers and I can't really put any one of the locations over the other. Well, possibly the bridges & treehouses area is the most creative with its layout. It's funny that I solved all the puzzle panels it had it one go, then wandered off and did some other couple of sections and came back to it after about a week and finally realized how to activate the laser itself.

I've got access to the mountain, but the rabbit hole goes deeper than that. It seems you only need 7 lasers to open the thingy, but there are 4 more locks and 4 more lasers. What's in there, though... oh boy.

My favourite place so far is probably either the monastery, even though it's so short/small, or the pretty colourful bunker/greenhouse. Least favourite has to be the quarry, partly because it has less in way of scenery than the other areas and maybe a little bit also because it took me way too long to figure out how to move one of the ramps in there.

There's still so much more to figure out. For example, there are these white panels with triangle symbols on them that I think I finally know how to solve, but I have no idea what they do. Maybe they'll come into play later. And I found an interesting place where I can input the hexagonal diagrams that I found here and there behind some pretty tricky doors.

I think the only negative thing for me so far has been the lack of jumping that was mentioned before. I also understand why it's necessary from a design perspective, but as a player it really irks me when I can't get over a knee high barrier. Everything else is superb, though. The sound design has some really nice background ambiance, the art design is absolutely fantastic and the puzzles are so satisfying to figure out.

There's still so much more to figure out. For example, there are these white panels with triangle symbols on them that I think I finally know how to solve, but I have no idea what they do. Maybe they'll come into play later. And I found an interesting place where I can input the hexagonal diagrams that I found here and there behind some pretty tricky doors.

Oh yes, I just got access to them too a few hours ago. I looked at the screenshots I took from the 2 hex diagrams that I had found thus far and listened to Feynman talk wise things. That was really, really cool.
I still don't know how to solve those triangle panels, I just solve them and go on, thinking of them as a secret-ish collectible until proven otherwise.
Yeah, the inability to jump or walk off a ledge is higher than 1 foot is annoying, and I sometimes feel like I want some binoculars also, but this game is of a different format, so I accept it for what it is.

I didn't think much of this game at first (although I love puzzles) but I've been enjoying it more and more as time's gone on. There are a lot of puzzles, particularly the early ones, that wouldn't be out of place in a free app for a mobile device. Where this game shines for me is where the environment plays a part in the puzzles themselves - the tree shadows were particularly satisfying to solve. I believe I've tackled most areas on the island now although I've still no idea how to complete the timed tree-house. I've solved all accessible puzzles in the area so not sure what I'm missing...

I watched a youtube video with a misleading title and got spoiled some pretty major environmental puzzles that I had no idea existed... so that ruined the game for me... Assholes like that who spoil the game with no warning (or even a hint of spoiler alert) should burn in hell. Nothing less would compensate ruining this game for me (although even that wouldn't particularly compensate it).

But the treehouse one I actually figured out myself. If you want a hint: some puzzles can be solved in more than one way.

Edit: And the painful thing is that I was so close to figuring it out myself. I saw the similarity in one of them, hell, several of them a long time ago but I thought they would be applied to regular panels rather than that I could just simply click on them. I would have tried it out eventually, god damn it. This really screws up the game for me.

Ah! That hint should allow me to progress, thanks . I'm avoiding spoilers on the game in general as in many cases the reason that I've been stuck is because I need to return to a puzzle later once I've gained more information elsewhere.

Okay, whoever this mountain king person was or why he felt the need to build a hall, I'm slowly starting to hate him. Oh, and I don't particularly care for Anitra's dance any more either, despite quite liking it in Quest for Glory 4. Thanks a bunch, Jon Blow.

Not quite sure I understand the music link there but if you're referring to the mountain in general then I'm with you on that one. I don't think it's spoiling anything to say that I was pretty much cursing Jon Blow each time a new set of puzzles was presented towards the end. No idea how people who have visual impairments are expected to complete the game!

I've just managed to complete the game and I'm satisfied that apart from the hint above I didn't need to look up any solutions. There are still certain things (including those that Thor alluded to) that I haven't completed yet but I'm not sure if it's worth the effort - at least until I've have a break from the game for a bit .

FFS, Starker, learn to use the spoiler tags.
I read the first few words of your post, and immediately realized this might be a big spoiler.
Now I can't come back to this thread until I have finished the game.
Thanks .....

It's not a spoiler as such. There is no mountain king. I was hinting at a particular puzzle section in very vague terms to avoid spoiling it. If you have played it, you will recognise the references (and that only if you know the references themselves). If not, no harm done.

Jezus Christ. Jonathan Blow will make half a million gamers watch 15 minutes of Tarkovsky !

I have seen that movie probably 25 years ago. I saw Stalker even before that, when I was 19 years old. Stalker (and Eraserhead) made me look at movies in a whole different way. I realized that not all movies need to have guns, or be about love. I watched more movies of the same director. But Stalker remained my favorite. I saw Nostalghia a few years later. But I couldn't appreciate it at the time. I actually have it on my harddisk, so I can rewatch it whenever I feel like it. I didn't feel the urge to do that during the last 1-2 years. But now I am 100% sure I will watch it again this month. Those 15 minutes in game were pretty awesome.

Quite ballsy to develop a game. For gamers. Who probably like Transformers 7 more than any Lynch movie. And make those gamers look at a movie like that for 15 minutes.

Jezus Christ. Jonathan Blow will make half a million gamers watch 15 minutes of Tarkovsky !

I have seen that movie probably 25 years ago. I saw Stalker even before that, when I was 19 years old. Stalker (and Eraserhead) made me look at movies in a whole different way.

You watch Stalker and don't fall asleep? Do you not at least get mad that the danger is never revealed at the end?

I read that some of Stalker crew died of radiation during of after making the movie, if that is true it's such a shame they died for nothing. But I have to admit that I have seen one even more boring movie - Rise of Valhalla or something - but at least that movie was eyecandy.

If I had the money to spare, I absolutely would buy the game. And anyone who likes well done puzzles set in a beautiful environment (and taking advantage of that environment in many many ways) should consider it. There's so much to discover and each discovery is unique in some way, whether it's a clever visual reference in the world or a new hidden place or a piece of knowledge that helps you further in the game or opens up a new way of looking at things. It's easy to look at it superficially and say that it's just line puzzles, but there's so much more going on in the game. I've never seen anything like it. Drawing lines is just the input method. The actual puzzles are so much more than that.

This game is a veritable "entry level corporate position" simulator. The kind of job where given no training you must deduce how to perform your rote, mundane duties from the scraps of shoddy output and detritus left in your predecessor's desk in tandem with barked negative feedback from your incompetant middle manager boss who only has half a clue what they hired you to do in the first place but secure in the knowledge that when the house of cards does finally tumble they can always sacrifice you - the new hire - just in time to keep their career rolling with another promotion and dump their clusterfuck of a department on an unwitting new victim to perpetuate the cycle all over again.

*Deep inhale*

For $0 you could teach yourself a programming language or a foreign language. More challenging - granted - but requires no less the same procedure. But dress it up in some "woo" with pretty graphics and a "mystery" and suddenly people are compelled to spend $40 and waste 15 hours on it. How soon can we get education software and textbooks with this sort of aesthetic?

For $0 you could teach yourself a programming language or a foreign language. More challenging - granted - but requires no less the same procedure.

You should at least superficially familiarize yourself what's involved with learning a language or what the game is about before you attempt trolling. That was pretty pathetic even by zajazd standards.